Sales 101
Whenever we talk about sales, there is often certain number of people that will tell us I’m not a salesperson and I would not be able to sell anything in my life!. If you personally said this at some point, here is the news for you: We are all salespeople and we all sell every day! We are not referring solely to the selling of products or services. We are talking about selling yourself – selling your ideas, values, wants and goals. There is no positive life experience that you obtained without skills of selling and influencing.
We learn how to sell, before we even learn how to speak. Babies exacly know how to get their parent’s attention. They get attention either with adorable smile or appropriate cry. Babies also know how to adapt to situation and use this two attention getters alternatively, depending which person is in front of them. Think about it next time when your friends complain of staying up all night, carring for their newborn baby and you will recognize success in closing the sale that one month old baby attain.
Small children are also effective salespeople. They know exacly which sales technique to use in toy stores in order to close the sale. Children ask right questions, know how to overcome objections, not take no for an answer and they exactly know who makes purchasing decisions. Teenagers also have an exceptional selling skills whenever they succeed in selling the idea of staying up longer in the evening, going to birthday parties or choose sport that their parents don’t approve in the first place.
When you decide on your career path, you still stay in sales. Even if your job title might be an art director, programmer or general manager you are still salesperson in every of this roles. When your opinion is accepted by your colegues, you have had successful job interview or your friend accepts to accompany you at the theatre, the list of your successful sales is continuing.
You don’t sell your ideas just to the people that surround you, but also to yourself. If you want others to believe in you, you must must act confidently and have faith in yourself. You must sell you to yourself first. Sometimes it means acting more experienced than you feel.
You will recognize sales in action next time when you, intead of saying to your superior: Thank you, but I’ve never really done this before, I have my doubts and I am not sure, maybe it is better not to even start working on this project!, you tell him/her: This project is a challenge for me and I am ready to accept it!, and like a real professional salseperson, you do what you just promissed to do!
Gordana Berger